Nearly 70 percent of American adults experience some form of digital eye strain due to prolonged use of electronic devices including desktop and laptop computers, smartphones, tablet or e-readers, television and video game consoles. Digital overexposure can lead to serious side effects from eye strain, headaches to messing with our sleep patterns and even our creativity.
For Workplace Eye Wellness Month, we’ve offered 4 ways you can protect the health of your eyes, even when a majority of your day is dedicated to screen time.
Take regular breaks to rest your eyes when working
Many of us find ourselves at our desks, staring at our screens for hours at a time. However, this can cause our eyes to overwork, causing eye strain and headaches.
To relieve some of this pressure and to protect the health of your eyes, try looking away from your screen every twenty minutes and focus on something further away – for example, on something outside your window – for twenty seconds or so before returning to your task.
Take supplements for your eye health
Supplements such as Viteyes® Blue Light Defender provide the ingredients we need to protect our eyes from blue light – in particular, lutein and zeaxanthin, which provide the only natural defence our eyes have to this damaging light wavelength.
Taking lutein and zeaxanthin supplements help to protect our eyes from our digital screens as well as the sun, by blocking some of the rays before they reach the retina. These carotenoids have been shown to promote macular health and long-term benefits on your vision.
Complete eye exercises regularly
There are a couple of exercises you can do to strengthen your eye muscles, which can help to relieve eye strain, reduce blurry vision, and even ward off certain eye problems in the long-term.
These include: tracing a figure of eight (tipped on its side) with your eyes; looking all the way to the left, then all the way to the right, without turning your head and; looking at objects that are close to you, then objects that are further away.
Eat a diet that promotes eye health
There are a number of ways you can adapt your diet to ensure the health of your eyes.
For one, increasing your intake of lutein – which can be found in high concentrations in eggs, spinach, kale and carrots – reduces your risk of dry eyes and blindness and helps to maintain the health of light-receiving cells in your eyes.
Likewise, Vitamin C – which can be found in Viteyes® Blue Light Defender Plus supplements – plays a protective role in our eye health, while increasing your Omega-3 consumption stimulates the production of healthy tear fluid, helping to prevent dry eye disease, which is a greater risk for those who work with screens.
March is dedicated to bringing awareness to Workplace Eye Wellness. COVID and the pandemic changed the narrative on workplace eye wellness with nearly 50 million people working from home, according to NCCI.com. For most, working from home meant increased screen time which may lead to headaches, eye strain and fatigue. Not only is it important to walk away from any digital devices periodically, but it’s important to add supplements that aid in eye health to one’s daily routine. Exercising and eating a balanced diet rich in lutein, vitamin C and Omega-3 also plays a role in protecting not only our overall health but also our eye health.
